Guns Could Have Saved Lives In That Colorado Theater

When I first heard about the horrific shooting during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises"at the Century 16 complex in Aurora, Colorado my first thought was, "What a shame that some of those moviegoers weren't armed." One woman was quoted as saying that the gunman, James Eagan Holmes, 24,, stood "right in front of me" and pulled the trigger. Her reaction: "I dove over the seats" to take cover.

James Eagan Holmes

Think about that. If she'd had a gun, she could have shot the bastard and saved some people. Another person aimed his cellphone camera at the gunman. Too bad that guy didn't have .38 to aim at him instead.

I have not heard or seen a single report of anybody shooting back at Holmes. 

Reuters sums up the nightmare: A gunman in a gas mask and body armor killed 12 people at a midnight premiere of the new "Batman" movie in a suburb of Denver early on Friday, opening fire on moviegoers after hurling a gas canister into the theater. Armed with an assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, he wounded another 59 with gunfire during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a mall in Aurora, which turned into a chaotic scene of bleeding victims, horrified screams and pleas for help, witnesses said. More from Reuters....

We'll be hearing from imbecile liberals all weekend and next week as they use this as an excuse for more gun control. The irony is that more guns - legal guns in the right hands - would have saved lives. Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama had the good taste to express their horror at the shooting . I have no reason to believe that either was not sincere. The Repugnant Jesse Jackson, Sr., on the other hand, practically wet his pants, in such a hurry was he to make anti-gun political hay out of tragedy by calling for a ban on guns. Jackson, by the way, is often accompanied by armed bodyguards.

The weapons used by Holmes included an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun and a Glock .40 caliber handgun. All of his weapons were purchased legally, reports say, and this will undoubtedly be cited by liberal anti-gun extremists as further evidence of a complete ban on firearms. That would be a ridiculous argument, however, because most of the baseball bats, knives, meat cleavers, bottles of Drain-O and automobiles that are used to kill people every year are also legally purchased. No weapon, legally purchased or otherwise, kill  makes the decision to kill. That's done by the person who possesses the weapon, and the fact is that some people will always commit violence. Banning all firearms would leave the rest of us defenseless. (Please read the excellent opinion piece by Tom Weaver below.)

Must-Read: Dark Knight Rises Shooter Could Have Been Stopped 'If Members Of The Audience Were Armed,' Says American Guns Star - RadarOnline.com

Tom Weaver, candidate for Congress, understands that:
http://tomweaverforcongress.com/news/2012-07-20/another-senseless-shooting

We wake up this morning to the news of a terrible tragedy carried out in Colorado. Innocent people watching a newly released movie were suddenly facing a deranged shooter. And the effects are devastating.

Our prayers must go out to the victims and their families.

Why did this person commit these horrific acts? The answer is simple – no one will ever really know. Throughout the history of man, individuals, groups and governments have committed these crimes – destroying both life and liberty.

But as once stated, we have a natural right to life, a natural right to liberty, and a natural right to the pursuit of happiness. Our Founders believed in those natural rights and understood that the right to life means we have a natural right to defend our lives. And hence, they placed a guarantee within the Constitution that Government will never interfere with a person’s natural right to self-defense.

And yet, Government has done just the opposite by creating so many rules and regulations which limit the ability of people to defend themselves. Government has created an atmosphere which allows the right of self-defense to be forfeited for almost any reason. Government has created the façade that only they can protect us. This is wrong. Why? GOVERNMENT CANNOT PROTECT US – it is up to us, the people, to provide that protection.

One country that understands the natural right of self-defense is Switzerland. Switzerland has one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world, yet, there is hardly any gun crime.

This tragedy may have been avoided had the person known that everyone in the aisle seats had the ability to defend themselves, their children, their loved ones and their neighbor. Our Founders were correct in stating that government must protect the right of citizens to self-defense, to keep and bear arms.